PROVIDENCE, R.I. - It was a busy Saturday of American Athletic Conference men's basketball action with six games on the schedule. Five teams have separated themselves in the standings as the quintet has just one conference loss each through the first week of play, led by No. 21/17 Houston and rv/- Cincinnati which each boast 5-1 league records.
Saturday, January 19
rv/rv UCF 64, Tulsa 62
UCF bounced back from a mid-week road loss and erased a 15-point first half deficit to win 64-62 against visiting Tulsa Saturday afternoon at CFE Arena.
After the Knights (14-3, 4-1) scored the first six points of the game, the Golden Hurricane (12-7, 2-4) used a 15-0 run to take the early advantage. Tulsa extended its first half lead to 15 points, at 28-13 with 5:11 to play in the frame, before UCF fought back.
A Chad Brown bucket in the lane and a BJ Taylor 3-pointer got the deficit to 10, and two free throws by Dayon Griffin made it just single digits, which is where things ended after 20 minutes. Tulsa led 32-23 at the break.
UCF used a 12-5 run early in the second half to cut the Tulsa lead down to just three points, at 38-35 when Tacko Fall scored in the paint just three minutes into the period.
It wasn't until the 10:27 mark that the Knights finally took the lead again, as Brown hit a jumper off the glass to make it 45-44 midway through the second half.
Collin Smith, who finished just one point shy of his season high with 13, scored all 13 in the second half. At one time, he scored seven of UCF's nine points to help maintain the lead.
Taylor led four Knights in double figures with 15 points, including knocking down seven free throws in the final 2:26 of play. He was 7-of-10 at the line for the game and added three assists.
To go along with his 13 points, Smith added four rebounds and three assists. Fall had 12 points and six boards, while Aubrey Dawkins added 12 points, five rebounds and two assists. Brown led the way on the boards, tying a career-high with 10 rebounds with seven points.
DaQuan Jeffries led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds for Tulsa, which scored 23 fast-break points and shot 40-percent in the contest. Sterling Taplin added 14 points.
UConn 87, Tulane 71
A second half surge from UConn distanced the Huskies (11-8, 2-4) to a 87-71 win against Tulane (4-13, 0-5) at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
Jalen Adams led the way with a season-high 31 points on 13 made field goals while Josh Carlton notched a career-high 18 points.
The Huskies led by seven heading into the half and saw its lead dwindle to three but UConn followed with an 11-0 and nine of those 11 came from Adams.
UConn shot 20-33 (61 %) in the second half and drilled six three-point field goals to pull away from the Green Wave.
Christian Vital finished with 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Vital became the 51st Husky to hit the 1,000 point mark. Alterique Gilbert chipped in 12 points on 5-9 shooting.
Caleb Daniels eclipsed the 20-point barrier for the fifth time this season, as he shot 8-for-10 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists. Blake Paul contributed 13 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench, while Samir Sehic added 13 points and six boards for Tulane
rv/- Cincinnati 66, Wichita State 55
Jarron Cumberland and Justin Jenifer combined to score 35 points and Cincinnati pulled away down the stretch and beat Wichita State 66-55 on Saturday.
Cumberland finished with 18 points and six rebounds for the Bearcats (16-3, 5-1), while Jenifer scored 17. Keith Williams added 14 points and Tre Scott grabbed 10 rebounds. Cincinnati led 24-23 at halftime.
Markis McDuffie topped the Shockers (8-9, 1-4) with 21 points and five rebounds. McDuffie, who came in tied with East Carolina's Jayden Gardner for the conference scoring lead at 22.0 per game, topped 20 points for a fourth-straight game. Samajae Haynes-Jones added 11 points and his 3-pointer gave Wichita State its last lead at 46-45 before Cincinnati closed with a 21-9 run.
After the Bearcats (16-3, 5-1 American) jumped out to an 8-5 lead with just over 15 minutes remaining in the first-half, McDuffie drove the basket and converted a layup, which sparked a 7-0 Shocker run that put WSU in front, 12-8, after a Ricky Torres layup with 12:06 to go in the stanza.
Wichita State and Cincinnati traded runs to start the second-half, with the Shockers netting the opening five points of the stanza before the Bearcats scored the next eight to gain a 32-28 advantage with just under 16 minutes remaining.
WSU fought back though, and took a 38-35 lead with 12:48 to go after Haynes-Jones made a jumper and drilled a three-pointer.
Cincinnati scored the next eight points to regain a 41-38 edge after a pair of Williams free-throws with just over 10 minutes remaining to the stanza.
The Shockers pulled back in front, 46-45, on Haynes-Jones' trey with seven minutes to go, but back-to-back three-pointers from the Bearcat's Jarron Cumberland and Justin Jenifer gave Cincinnati the lead, 51-46, with 5:50 remaining, and WSU would get no closer than six the remainder of the contest.
For the game, Wichita State went 21-for-52 from the field for 40 percent and 8-for-21 from three-point range for 38 percent, but made just five of seven free-throw attempts.
Cincinnati went 18-of-46 from the floor for 39 percent and 5-for-14 from long range for 36 percent, and converted 25 out of 35 free-throw attempts for 71 percent.
The Bearcats also outrebounded WSU, 36-24.
Memphis 83, SMU 61
Donning throwback Memphis State uniforms, the ones worn by Tigers' coach Penny Hardaway when he played in the early 1990s, paired with the play of seniors Kareem Brewton, Jr., Raynere Thornton and Jeremiah Martin the Tigers played their most complete game of the season Saturday at FedExForum. The UofM defeated SMU, 83-61, in an American Athletic Conference game before 16,673.
Brewton Jr., made a career-high six 3-pointers, Thornton had the second double-double of his career, which included a career-best 14 rebounds and Martin tied a career-high with 11 assists.
In the victory, the Tigers (12-6, 4-1 The American) had a season-high 24 assists and outrebounded one of the conference's top teams on the boards, 39-38. Brewton led the Tigers with 20 points, Tyler Harris added 14 and Kyvon Davenport scored 12, including two on a monstrous driving dunk in the second half.
The Tigers jumped to a 13-0 lead and held SMU (11-7, 3-3) scoreless until 12:44 remained in the opening half. Memphis led 40-23 at the half and never trailed in the game.
The UofM limited the Mustangs to 36.2 percent shooting and built its lead to 35 late in the second half.
Leading by 17 at the half, the Tigers did not allow SMU to make a comeback try. Memphis eventually built its 35-point lead (74-39) late in the second half after a 13-2 run capped by a Thornton reverse slam and including two Harris 3-pointers.
At the half, the Tigers led, 40-23. The Tigers built an early 13-0 lead and never trailed in the opening 20 minutes. SMU didn't score until its 15th possession of the game, scoring on a jumper by Feron Hunt.
SMU trimmed the Tigers' advantage to four points (25-21) with 6:19 to go in the first half on a 3-pointer from Nat Dixon. But it was the closest the Mustangs would get. The Tigers pulled back in front quickly, going on a 15-2 run to end the half.
Brewton had his fifth 3-pointer of the half during the run and Thornton added another.
Memphis shot 47.1 percent in the opening half and had assists on 14 of their 16 baskets. Martin had six first-half assists to lead the Tigers.
Jimmy Whitt Jr. scored 12 points and Isiaha Mike 10 for SMU.
Penn 77, rv/- Temple 70
Ernest Aflakpui's career performance wasn't enough for Temple as the Owls came up short 77-70 to Penn (11-6) in a Philadelphia Big 5 contest. It was the first home loss of the season for Temple (14-4), who lost its chance to share the Big 5 title and finishes at 2-2 in city series play.
Penn led for all but 19 seconds of the contest and by as many as 13 points with 11:42 left.
Temple cut a late 11-point deficit down to five with 1:13 remaining, but could get no closer.
Penn shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and made 12 three-pointers in the game while the Owls hit just 3-for-11.
The Owls had won four straight and were 7-0 at home prior to the loss.
Aflakpui added a career-high 15 rebounds to a career- and game-high 21 points, hitting 9-of-13 from the field and also leading all players with three steals.
The rebound total for Aflakpui is the most for a Temple player since Jaylen Bond also grabbed 15 boards in the final game of the 2015-16 season.
Three other players reached double figures in scoring for the Owls, with Shizz Alston, Jr. posting 14 points, Nate Pierre-Louis adding 13 and Quinton Rose scoring 12.
No. 21/17 Houston 69, USF 60
Breaon Brady scored 13 points and Armoni Brooks added 11 to lead No. 21/17 Houston over USF 69-60 on Saturday night.
The Cougars (18-1, 5-1) squandered most of a 16-point second-half lead before pulling away for good over the last 10 minutes.
David Collins led USF (12-6, 2-4) with 23 points, 21 of them after halftime. Alexis Yetna scored 12, none in the second half.
Houston limited USF to 23.8 percent shooting (5-of-21) and finished the first half on a 16-6 run to open a 35-25 lead. The Cougars built the advantage to 16 before Collins scored six points over a two-minute stretch to help the Bulls whittle their deficit to 47-43 with 10:38 remaining.
Brison Gresham's three-point play and Galen Robinson's first points of the night on a short jumper settled the Cougars, who methodically built the lead back to double-digits. Collins made three free throws to make it a six-point game before Houston closed it out from the foul line.
The Cougars won for the third time since suffering their only loss, 73-69 at Temple on Jan. 9. They get another crack at the Owls on Jan. 31 in Houston, where the Cougars have the nation's longest home winning streak at 29 games.
The Bulls have lost 25 consecutive games to ranked opponents. USF's last victory over an AP Top 25 team was Feb. 29, 2012 at Louisville. They haven't beaten a ranked team at home since defeating Seton Hall seven years ago this month.
Robinson, who finished with five points and two assists, joined Derrick Daniels as the only players in school history with four 100-plus assist seasons. He's four assists away from becoming the sixth player in program history with 500 in a career.
UPCOMING GAMES
| TUESDAY 1.22.19 |
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Wichita State |
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USF |
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8 p.m. |
Tampa, Fla. |
TV:CBSSN |
| WEDNESDAY 1.23.19 |
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ECU |
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Houston |
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8 p.m. |
Houston, Texas |
TV:ESPN3 |
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UCF |
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Tulane |
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8 p.m. |
New Orleans, La. |
TV:ESPN3 |
| THURSDAY 1.24.19 |
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Tulsa |
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Cincinnati |
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7 p.m. |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
TV:ESPN2 |
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Memphis |
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Temple |
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7 p.m. |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
TV:CBSSN |
| SATURDAY 1.26.19 |
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USF |
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ECU |
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4 p.m. |
Greenville, N.C. |
TV:ESPNU |
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Tulane |
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SMU |
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6 p.m. |
Dallas, Texas |
TV:ESPNU |
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Wichita State |
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UConn |
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6 p.m. |
Hartford, Conn. |
TV:CBSSN |
| SUNDAY 1.27.19 |
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Cincinnati |
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Temple |
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Noon |
Philadelphia, Pa. |
TV:CBSSN |
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Houston |
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Tulsa |
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2 p.m. |
Tulsa, Okla. |
TV:ESPNEWS |
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UCF |
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Memphis |
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4 p.m. |
Memphis, Tenn. |
TV:CBSSN |